Peelable seals including porous inserts

ABSTRACT

Peelable seals including porous inserts are described. An example peelable seal includes a porous insert positioned between a first sheet and a second sheet. The porous insert includes a plurality of interwoven strands and a plurality of pores adjacent the interwoven strands through which a bond is formed between the first sheet and the second sheet when heat is applied to at least one of the first sheet, the second sheet or the porous insert.

RELATED APPLICATION

This patent claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/031,789, filed on Feb. 27, 2008, which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present patent relates generally to peelable seals and, moreparticularly, to peelable seals including porous inserts.

BACKGROUND

Medical solutions and/or components may be stored in separatecontainers, which are mixed together prior to use. However, such anapproach may compromise the sterility of the system and/or the processand may be relatively labor-intensive, which may lead to inconsistenciesand/or mistakes (e.g., dilution of the admixture, formulation mistakes).

Alternatively, flexible containers having multiple compartmentsseparated by peelable or frangible seals may be used in many industriessuch as, for example, the medical industry to separately store differentmedical solutions and/or components due, at least in part, to theirstability and/or compatibility. These different medical solutions and/orcomponents are admixed before use.

In operation, the peelable seal may be broken by, for example,purposeful manipulation of the flexible container, to mix the separatelystored different medical solutions and/or components together. Someknown flexible containers are produced and/or fabricated using flexiblefilms or sheets that are joined along their peripheral edges to form thecontainer. To enable the container to have, for example, a first chamberand a second chamber, a peelable seal may be utilized to separate thedifferent chambers. Some flexible containers having multiplecompartments are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,295, U.S. Pat. No.5,176,634 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,369, each of which is incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

Peelable seals are commonly produced by two different methods. One ofthe methods includes precisely heating adjacent contacting surfaces ofsingle layer sheets to soften or slightly melt the single layer sheetsto create cohesive bonds without fully fusing the single layer sheets.Alternately, adjacent layers of multilayer polymeric flexible sheets maybe precisely heated to soften or slightly melt the multilayer polymericflexible sheets to create cohesive bonds without fully fusing theadjacent layers. The other of the methods may include precisely heatingadjacent contacting surfaces of multilayered sheets that includes layershaving different melting characteristics to soften or slightly melt theinner contacting layers to create a cohesive bond without fusing theouter layers, because the outer layers have a relatively higher meltingtemperature. Peelable seals, as described above, typically break byseparating the sheets adjacent the peelable seal (e.g., delaminating atthe seal).

The methods described above to produce peelable seals unfortunatelyproduce peelable seals that are inconsistent (e.g., too strong or tooweak), because of difficulties surrounding maintaining precise controlof the temperature used to create the sealing boundary, especially inlarger scale manufacturing processes. As such, some of the peelableseals produced using the above described methods may be too strong tobreak open after a particular amount of force is applied or too weak notto break open during normal handling and/or accidental dropping.

SUMMARY

An example peelable seal includes a porous insert positioned between afirst sheet and a second sheet. The porous insert includes a pluralityof interwoven strands and a plurality of pores adjacent the interwovenstrands through which a bond is formed between the first sheet and thesecond sheet when heat is applied to at least one of the first sheet,the second sheet or the porous insert.

An example method of producing a container having a peelable sealincludes sealing a first set of corresponding edges of a first sheet anda second sheet. Additionally, the example method includes positioning amesh insert between the first sheet and the second sheet. The meshinsert includes a plurality of interwoven strands and a plurality ofpores adjacent the interwoven strands. Further, the example methodincludes sealing a second set of corresponding edges of the first sheetand the second sheet to form the container. Further yet, the examplemethod includes applying heat to a portion of the first sheet, thesecond sheet, and the mesh insert to form a peelable seal between thefirst sheet and the second sheet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example container including an example peelable seal.

FIG. 2 depicts a cross-sectional view taken at line 2-2 of the examplecontainer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternative container.

FIG. 4 depicts an example mesh strip utilized to form the peelable sealof FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 depicts a cross-sectional view of an example multilayer sheetthat may be used to implement the first sheet and/or the second sheet ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to produce a container having apeelable seal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain examples are shown in the above-identified figures and describedin detail below. In describing these examples, like or identicalreference numbers are used to identify the same or similar elements. Thefigures are not necessarily to scale and certain features and certainviews of the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale or in schematicfor clarity and/or conciseness. Additionally, several examples have beendescribed throughout this specification. Any features from any examplemay be included with, a replacement for, or otherwise combined withother features from other examples.

The examples described herein relate to flexible containers having aplurality of compartments, which are separated by frangible or peelableseals. The plurality of compartments may be utilized to separately storefluid(s) and/or solid(s), which may be combined by, for example,purposefully manipulating the flexible container. In particular, theexamples described herein relate to peelable seals that include a meshinsert(s), which reduces the temperature control requirements to producepeelable seals having substantially consistent opening characteristics.

Generally, peelable seals may be advantageously utilized to separatecompartments of containers, which may separately store two or moreproducts. These two or more products may be mixed or combined by openingthe peelable seal. The examples described herein provide relativelyreliable opening characteristics between the two compartments with morelenient temperature control requirements to form the peelable seal,which enables the examples described herein to be efficiently massproduced.

FIG. 1 depicts a multiple compartment container 10 (e.g., herein afterreferred to as the container 10) that includes a first compartment 12and a second compartment 14 for the separate storage of substancesand/or solutions. The container 10 may be formed using a first flexiblesheet or first sheet 20 (FIG. 2) and a second flexible sheet or secondsheet 22 (FIG. 2) that are heat sealed along first and secondlongitudinal edges 24 and 26 (e.g., a first set) and first and secondlateral edges 28 and 30 (e.g., a second set) to substantially preventfluid from leaking out between the respective edges 24, 26, 28 and 30.However, typically, a relatively porous material insert, mesh material,insert strip, mesh strip or mesh insert 18 is positioned between firstsheet 20 and the second sheet 22 before the first and secondlongitudinal edges 24 and 26 and/or the first and second lateral edges28 and 30 are heated sealed. In some examples, the, the first and secondlongitudinal edges 24 and 26 are heat sealed and then the mesh strip 18is positioned between the first and second sheets 20 and 22. Next, thefirst and second lateral edges 28 and 30 are heated sealed. However, theorder in which the mesh strip 18 is positioned between the first andsecond sheets 20 and 22 and/or when the edges 24, 26, 28 and/or 30 areheat sealed may occur in any suitable order. To form a heat seal alongthe edges 24, 26, 28 and 30, heat may be applied to at least partiallymelt and fuse the first sheet 20 to the second sheet 22 along therespective edges 24, 26, 28 and 30. The amount of heat applied to meltand fuse the first sheet 20 to the second sheet 22 may vary depending onthe type of material that the first and second sheets 20 and 22 are madeof While the above described example describes fusing the edges 24, 26,28 and 30 of the first and second sheets 20 and 22 together using a heatsealing method, any other method may be used to form a substantiallypermanent seal between the edges 24, 26, 28 and 30 such as, for example,adhesive bonding. FIG. 3 depicts a cross-sectional view of analternative container 300, which includes a single flexible sheet 302(e.g., flexible polymeric sheet) that is folded over itself at an end304 and, thus, the container 300 includes a single lateral edge 306 thatis heat sealed instead of the first and second lateral edges 28 and 30.

Turning back to FIGS. 1 and 2, to separate the container 10 into thefirst compartment 12 and the second compartment 14, a peelable seal 16may be positioned between the first and second longitudinal edges 24 and26. In some examples, the peelable seal 16 includes the mesh strip 18,which is positioned between the first and second sheets 20 and 22. Whilethe container 10 of FIG. 1 includes the peelable seal 16 positioned suchthat the first compartment 12 is relatively larger than the secondcompartment 14, the peelable seal 16 may be positioned in any otherposition relative the first and second sheets 20 and 22 such that thesecond compartment 14 is approximately the same size or larger than thefirst compartment 12. Additionally, while the container 10 of FIG. 1includes the first and second compartments 12 and 14, the container 10may include any number of compartments (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.).

The example container 10 depicted in FIG. 1 includes a first port 32(e.g., tubular port), a second port 34 (e.g., tubular port), a thirdport 36 (e.g., tubular port) and a fourth port 38 (e.g., tubular port).The ports 32, 34, 36 and/or 38 enable the first compartment 12 to befluidly coupled to, for example, another container (not shown). Each ofthe ports 32, 34, 36 and/or 38 may be designed as an input port, anoutput port or a combination of an input port and an output port. Thecontainer 10 may have any number of ports (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.)depending on the particular application. In some examples, the firstport 32 may be used to fill the first compartment 12 with a desiredfluid, the third and forth ports 36 and 38 may be used to introducedifferent agents to the fluid and the second port 34 may be used todischarge the fluid. In some examples, the ports 32, 34, 36 and 38 mayinclude a membrane that is pierced by, for example, a cannula or aspike. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the container 10 may have ports(not shown) to communicate with the second compartment 14 or any othercompartment that may be included in the container 10.

The container 10 including the peelable seal 16 may be used in a varietyof applications and/or industries such as, the medical industry.Generally, the first and second compartments 12 and 14 may includefluids intended for admixture. In some examples, the first compartment12 may contain blood or a blood component and the second compartment 14may contain a preservative solution. Specifically, the first compartment12 may receive red blood cells and the second compartment 14 may containa red blood cell preservative such as, for example, Adsol® or SAG-M. Inother examples, the first compartment 12 may contain blood or a bloodcomponent and the second compartment 14 may contain a treating fluid ortreating device. Particularly, the first compartment 12 may contain ablood component and the second compartment 14 may include a compoundabsorption device associated with pathogen inactivation. Generally, thecompound absorption device associated with pathogen inactivation maysubstantially remove pathogen inactivation agents, by-products of apathogen inactivation treatment or even the pathogens themselves. Inoperation, to mix the blood component (e.g., pathogen inactivated blood)and the compound absorption device for a predetermined amount of time,an operator may purposefully manipulate the container 10 to fluidlycouple the first compartment 12 and the second compartment 14 by openingthe peelable seal 16 (e.g., separating the first sheet 20 from thesecond sheet 22 adjacent the peelable seal 16). Once the predeterminedamount of time has lapsed, the operator may evacuate the fluid from thecontainer 10 through the second port 34. In some examples, the container10 may include an aperture (not shown) to enable the container to besuspended from, for example, a hook of an I.V. stand.

FIG. 2 depicts the first and second sheets 20 and 22 (e.g., plasticsheets) of the container 10 and the peelable seal 16 that includes themesh strip 18. As shown in FIG. 2, the mesh strip 18 is positionedbetween the first and second sheets 20 and 22 adjacent a junction 202between the sheets 20 and 22. The peelable seal 16 substantiallyprevents the first and second compartments 12 and 14 from being fluidlycoupled until the peelable seal 16 is broken and/or opened by, forexample, purposefully manipulating the container 10. As discussed above,breaking and/or opening the peelable seal 16 enables fluid contained inthe first compartment 12 to be mixed with fluid contained in the secondcompartment 14.

FIG. 4 depicts a more detailed view of the example mesh strip 18. Themesh strip 18 may include a plurality of interwoven strands 40 betweenwhich pores 42 may be defined. The mesh strip 18 may be any suitablesize and/or shape (e.g., a mesh shape) and may be made of any suitablematerial having properties that are compatible with the fluids to bestored in the first compartment 12 and the second compartment 14.Additionally, the mesh strip 18 may be made of any suitable materialthat has a melting temperature relatively greater than the first andsecond sheets 20 and 22 of the container 10, which enables the meshstrip 18 to substantially resist fusing with the first and/or secondsheets 20 and 22 when the sheets 20 and 22 are heated to form thepeelable seal 16.

Generally, the first and/or second sheets 20 and 22 may be made of anysuitable material such as, for example, a flexible material, and thefirst sheet 20 may be made of the same or a different material as thesecond sheet 22. More specifically, the material used for the firstand/or second sheets 20 and 22 may vary depending on the fluids to bestored in the first and/or second compartments 12 and 14. In someexamples, the first and second sheets 20 and 22 may each include asingle layer plastic sheet. Alternatively, in other examples, the firstand second sheets 20 and 22 may each include a multilayer plastic sheet.Additionally, the type of material used for the first and/or secondsheets 20 and 22 may depend on the method (e.g., heating method) used toform, for example, the peelable seal 16. Some methods of formingpeelable seals include, for example, direct heat sealing and/or RFsealing.

In some examples, the first and second sheets 20 and 22 may be made of aRF-responsive plastic material or RF-responsive resin material to enableRF-welding to be utilized to form the seals along, for example, theedges 24, 26, 28 and 30 of the container 10. Generally, RF-responsiveresins are resins that may be heated by RF energy.

In some examples, the first and second sheets 20 and 22 have a thicknessbetween about 1 mil and 10 mils depending on the type of sheets used(e.g., a single plastic sheet or a multilayer plastic sheet). Amultilayer sheet may include a plurality of different plastic filmsadhered to one another to form a single sheet, which has properties notpossessed by a single plastic sheet. The first and second sheets 20 and22 may be made of multilayer sheets if, for example, the fluid to becontained in the first and/or second compartments 12 and/or 14 is onlycompatible with particular types of materials (e.g., particular types ofplastics) and/or the fluid to be contained in the first and/or secondcompartments 12 and/or 14 requires a material (e.g., plastic) that issubstantially impenetrable to air, oxygen and/or moisture.

In other examples, the first and second sheets 20 and 22 (e.g.,polymeric sheet) may be a single layer of PVC film having a thickness ofbetween about 3 mils and 18 mils. Typically, PVC film is compatible withwhole blood as well as blood products. Additionally, PVC film isRF-responsive (e.g., RF-welding may be utilized to form the seals along,for example, the edges 24, 26, 28 and 30 of the container 10). However,any other suitable material or plastic resin may be utilized to producethe first and/or the second sheets 20 and/or 22 such as, for example,polyolefins, polyamides, polyesters, polybutadiene, styrene andhydrocarbon copolymers and mixtures.

FIG. 5 depicts a multilayer sheet 44 that may be used to implement thefirst sheet 20 and/or the second sheet 22. The multilayer sheet 4 mayinclude a first layer 46, a tie layer 48, a second layer 50 and asealing, contacting or inner layer 52. The first layer 46 may be anouter layer and exposed to, for example, ambient air. The first layer 46may have any suitable thickness such as, for example, approximately 0.55mils or between about 0.40 mils and 0.70 mils. The first layer 46 may bemade of a thermoplastic material such as, poly(cyclohexylene dimethylenecyclohexanedicarboxylate), (PCCE). The tie layer 48 may be RF-responsiveand may act as a binding layer between the first layer 46 and the secondlayer 50. The tie layer 48 may have any suitable thickness such as, forexample, approximately 0.4 mils or between about 0.25 mils and 0.55mils. In some examples, the thickness of the tie layer 48 may vary. Forexample, if the tie layer 48 has a thickness of approximately 0.4 mils,the tie layer 48 may be made of a plastic material such as ethyl vinylacetate (EVA) modified with malic anhydride.

The second layer 50 may be made of a RF-response layer or material suchas, for example, ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA), that cooperates with theinner layer 52 and the mesh strip 18 to form and/or create the peelableseal 16 as described below. The second layer 50 may have any suitablethickness such as, for example, 6.2 mils or between about 5.75 mils and6.75 mils. In some examples, the thickness of the second layer 50 mayvary.

The inner layer 52 may be made of a non-RF responsive material. In someexamples, the inner layer 52 may be a non-RF-responsive alloy ofstyrene-ethylene-butyl-styrene (SEBS) such as, for example, Kraton®, andethylene polypropylene copolymer. In such examples, the inner layer 52may have a thickness of approximately 1.6 mils or between about 1.40mils and 1.80 mils.

As described above, the mesh strip 18 may be any suitable material thatis compatible with the contents to be contained in the first and/orsecond compartments 12 and 14. Additionally, if the first and secondsheets 20 and 22 are implemented using the multilayer sheet 44, the meshstrip 18 the may be any suitable material that has a melting point thatis relatively greater than at least the melting point of the inner layer52. Alternatively, if the first and second sheets 20 and 22 areimplemented using single layer sheets made of, for example, a PVCmaterial (e.g., polyvinyl chloride), the mesh strip 18 may be anysuitable material that has a melting point that is relatively greaterthan at least the melting point of the single layer sheet. Inparticular, in some examples, the mesh strip 18 may be made of a PETmaterial (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate) or a plastic material.Typically, PET has a higher melting point as compared to many plasticssuch as, for example, the first and second sheets 20 and 22 made of aPVC material and/or the inner layer 52

The mesh strip 18 may be relatively wider than the peelable seal 16 toenable a die bar, utilized to form the peelable seal 16, to variablyengage the container 10 between edges 102 and 104 of the mesh strip 18and still form the peelable seal 16. As depicted in FIG. 1, a width 106of the mesh strip 18 is approximately 0.68 inches and a width 108 of thepeelable seal is approximately 0.26 inches. In other examples, the meshstrip 18 may have a width of between about 0.5 inches and 0.8 inches andthe peelable seal 16 may have a width of between about 0.2 inches and0.3 inches.

Edges 110 and 112 of the mesh strip 18 may be positioned at a distancefrom (e.g., does not extend completely to) the first and secondlongitudinal edges 24 and 26. Similarly, while not shown, if the meshstrip 18 were to be positioned between the first and second lateraledges 28 and 30, the edges 110 and 112 of the mesh strip 18 may bepositioned at a distance from (e.g., does not extend completely to) thefirst and second lateral edges 28 and 30. Such an approach substantiallyprevents the mesh strip 18 from interfering with or weakening peripheralseals formed along the edges 24, 26, 28 and 30. Additionally oralternatively, the mesh strip 18 may define an aperture (not shown)adjacent each or one of the edges 110 and/or 112 to substantially securethe mesh strip 18 relative to at least one of the sheets 20 and/or 22even after the peelable seal 16 is broken and/or opened. In operation,pressure and heat applied to the first and second sheets 20 and 22(e.g., plastic forming sheets), as described below, causes the first andsecond sheets 20 and 22 to at least partially melt and flow through theaperture(s) of the mesh strip 18. As the melted material (e.g., plastic)cools, the first and second sheets 20 and 22 fuse and/or form asubstantially non-peelable seal through the aperture(s). Such anapproach substantially prevents the mesh strip 18 from, for example,floating in the fluid contained in either the first and/or secondcompartments 12 and/or 14 once the peelable seal 16 is broken and/oropened.

Turning to FIG. 4, the pores 42 may be sized to achieve desired openingcharacteristics of the peelable seal 16. Generally, the larger the sizeof the pores 42, the larger the amount of force will be required tobreak and/or open the peelable seal 16 to fluidly couple the firstcompartment 12 and the second compartment 14. In some examples, each ofthe pores 42 may be between about eleven micrometers and fiftymicrometers. As depicted in FIG. 4, the pores 42 may be approximatelythirty micrometers, which enables the peelable seal 16 to withstand asix foot drop test of the container 10 filled approximatelythree-quarters full with fluid without opening and/or leaking.

In some examples, the peelable seal 16 may be formed by a direct heatsealing method or a RF sealing method. To form the peelable seal 16 onthe container 10 using either of the above methods, initially the meshstrip 18 is positioned between the first and second sheets 20 and 22(e.g., polymeric sheets) at a location at which the peelable seal 16 isto be formed. A die bar (e.g., a profiled die bar) (not shown) thenurges the first and second sheets 20 and 22 against the mesh strip 18such that, for example, the peelable seal 16 is formed at approximatelythe midpoint (e.g., between the edges 102 and 104) of the mesh strip 18.Generally, the die bar may be preheated to a temperature less than therequired sealing temperature (e.g., the temperature required to form thepeelable seal 16). Once the die bar urges the first and second sheets 20and 22 against the mesh strip 18, the die bar may be energized with, forexample, heat energy or RF energy, to heat the first and second sheets20 and 22 to at least the melting point of, for example, PVC or anyother plastic material used for the inner layer 52 and/or the firstand/or second sheets 20 and 22. In some examples, the die bar may beenergized with sufficient RF energy to raise the temperature toapproximately 120° C., which is a temperature greater than the meltingpoint of the first and second sheets 20 and 22 if the first and secondsheets 20 and 22 are made of a PVC material. The size and/or shape ofthe die bar utilized to form the peelable seal 16 impacts the sizeand/or shape of the peelable seal 16. For example, if a profiled die baris utilized to form the peelable seal 16, the peelable seal 16 may begenerally straight and rectangular.

In operation, the heat and pressure applied by the die bar to the firstand second sheets 20 and 22 (e.g., plastic forming sheets) causes thefirst and second sheets 20 and 22 to at least partially melt and flowthrough the pores 42 of the mesh strip 18. As the melted material (e.g.,plastic) cools, the first and second sheets 20 and 22 fuse and/or formrelatively strong bonds through the pores 42. However, the placement ofthe interwoven strands 40 adjacent the pores 42 interrupt the fusingbetween the first and second sheets 20 and 22 to enable the peelableseal 16 to be broken and/or opened by purposefully manipulating thecontainer 10 even if complete melting and/or fusing occurs between thefirst and second sheets 20 and 22. Such an approach decreases thetemperature control requirements to produce peelable seals 16 havingsubstantially consistent opening characteristics, which eliminates thelimitations encountered by the prior art. However, in other examples, astrength of the peelable seal 16 may be such that the container 10 maybe squeezed in an apparatus or mechanical aid to enable the peelableseal 16 to be broken and/or opened. In such examples, the pores 42 maybe relatively large to obtain the desired strength of the peelable seal16.

The flow diagram depicted in FIG. 6 is representative of machinereadable instructions that can be executed to produce the exampleapparatus described herein. In particular, FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagramrepresentative of machine readable instructions that may be executed toproduce, for example, the peelable seal 16, the container 10 or anyother of the examples described herein. The example process of FIG. 6may be performed using a processor, a controller and/or any othersuitable processing device. For example, the example processes of FIG. 6may be implemented in coded instructions stored on a tangible mediumsuch as a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM) and/or random-accessmemory (RAM) associated with a processor. Alternatively, some or all ofthe example processes of FIG. 6 may be implemented using anycombination(s) of application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)),programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)), field programmable logicdevice(s) (FPLD(s)), discrete logic, hardware, firmware, etc. Also, someor all of the example processes of FIG. 6 may be implemented manually oras any combination(s) of any of the foregoing techniques, for example,any combination of firmware, software, discrete logic and/or hardware.Further, although the example processes of FIG. 6 are described withreference to the flow diagram of FIG. 6 other methods of implementingthe processes of FIG. 6 may be employed. For example, the order ofexecution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocksdescribed may be changed, eliminated, sub-divided, or combined.Additionally, any or all of the example processes of FIG. 6 may beperformed sequentially and/or in parallel by, for example, separateprocessing threads, processors, devices, discrete logic, circuits, etc.

FIG. 6 depicts an example method 600 that may be used to produce thecontainer 10 having the peelable seal 16. To do so, in some examples,initially, the first and second longitudinal edges 24 and 26 may be heatsealed (block 602) and then an operator may position the mesh strip 18between the first and second sheets 20 and 22 (e.g., polymeric sheets)(block 604) at a location at which the peelable seal 16 is to be formed.The mesh strip 18 may include the plurality of interwoven strands 40 andthe pores 42 adjacent the plurality of interwoven strands 40. The firstand second lateral edges 28 and 30 may then be heat sealed to form thecontainer 10 (block 606) and to substantially prevent fluid from leakingout between the respective edges 24, 26, 28 and 30. Next, in someexamples, the die bar (not shown) then urges the first and second sheets20 and 22 against the mesh strip 18 at which point the die bar isenergized with, for example, heat energy or RF energy, to heat the firstand second sheets 20 and 22 and the mesh strip 18 (block 608) to atleast the melting point of, for example, the inner layer 52 and/or thefirst and/or second sheets 20 and 22 to form the peelable seal betweenthe sheets 20 and 22 (block 610).

The heat and pressure applied by the die bar to the first and secondsheets 20 and 22 (e.g., plastic forming sheets) causes the first andsecond sheets 20 and 22 to at least partially melt and flow through thepores 42 of the mesh strip 18. As the melted material (e.g., plastic)cools, the first and second sheets 20 and 22 fuse and/or form relativelystrong bonds through the pores 42. However, the placement of theinterwoven strands 40 adjacent the pores 42 interrupt the fusing betweenthe first and second sheets 20 and 22 to enable the peelable seal 16 tobe broken and/or opened by purposefully manipulating the container 10even if complete melting and/or fusing occurs between the first andsecond sheets 20 and 22.

The method 600 then determines whether it should seal correspondinglongitudinal edges of other sheets (block 612). Otherwise, the exampleprocess of FIG. 6 is ended.

Although certain methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture havebeen described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. To the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus, and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scopeof the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine ofequivalents.

1. A peelable seal, comprising: a porous insert positioned between afirst sheet and a second sheet, wherein the porous insert comprises: aplurality of interwoven strands; and a plurality of pores adjacent theinterwoven strands through which a bond is formed between the firstsheet and the second sheet when heat is applied to at least one of thefirst sheet, the second sheet, or the porous insert.
 2. The peelableseal as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of pores isbetween about eleven micrometers and fifty micrometers.
 3. The peelableseal as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of pores isapproximately 30 micrometers.
 4. The peelable seal as defined in claim1, wherein the porous insert comprises a plastic material.
 5. Thepeelable seal as defined in claim 1, wherein the porous insert comprisesa PET material.
 6. The peelable seal as defined in claim 1, wherein thefirst sheet and the second sheet each comprise at least one of a singlelayer plastic sheet or a multilayer plastic sheet.
 7. The peelable sealas defined in claim 1, wherein the first sheet and the second sheet eachcomprise a single layer PVC sheet.
 8. The peelable seal as defined inclaim 1, further comprising a seal along corresponding edges of thefirst sheet and the second sheet to form a container.
 9. The peelableseal as defined in claim 8, wherein the container is separated into afirst compartment and a second compartment by the peelable seal.
 10. Amethod of producing a container having a peelable seal, comprising:sealing a first set of corresponding edges of a first sheet and a secondsheet; positioning a mesh insert between the first sheet and the secondsheet, wherein the mesh insert comprises: a plurality of interwovenstrands; and a plurality of pores adjacent the interwoven strands;sealing a second set of corresponding edges of the first sheet and thesecond sheet to form the container; and applying heat to a portion ofthe first sheet, the second sheet, and the mesh insert to form apeelable seal between the first sheet and the second sheet.
 11. Themethod as defined in claim 10, wherein forming the peelable seal betweenthe first sheet and the second sheet comprises fusing the first sheetand the second sheet through at least some of the plurality of pores.12. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein applying heat to theportion of the first sheet, the second sheet, and the mesh insertcomprises applying RF-energy to the portion of the first sheet, thesecond sheet, and the mesh insert.
 13. A container for use in themedical industry, comprising: a first sheet; a second sheet; a sealalong corresponding edges of the first sheet and the second sheet toform the container; a porous insert positioned between the first sheetand the second sheet, wherein the porous insert comprises: a pluralityof interwoven strands; and a plurality of pores adjacent the interwovenstrands; and a peelable seal between opposite edges of the first sheetand the second sheet and adjacent the porous insert, wherein thepeelable seal is to form separate compartments in the container.
 14. Thecontainer as defined in claim 13, wherein a bond is formed between thefirst sheet and the second sheet through at least some of the pluralityof pores.
 15. The container as defined in claim 13, wherein each of theplurality of pores is between about eleven micrometers and fiftymicrometers.
 16. The container as defined in claim 13, wherein each ofthe plurality of pores is approximately 30 micrometers.
 17. Thecontainer as defined in claim 13, wherein the porous insert comprises aplastic material.
 18. The container as defined in claim 13, wherein theporous insert comprises a PET material.
 19. The container as defined inclaim 13, wherein the first sheet and the second sheet each comprise atleast one of a single layer plastic sheet or a multilayer plastic sheet.20. The container as defined in claim 13, wherein the first sheet andthe second sheet each comprise a single layer PVC sheet.